Out Into The Light

Matthew Good
Nov. 28, 2005

For those who don’t feel that activism ever leads to any results, take heart.

A few days ago a comment left on the mblog unwittingly launched an investigation into the mental health of soldiers returning from Iraq, and on an immediate front may have saved a life in the process.

Mr. Christopher Taylor who, himself, was crying out for help; was the domino that launched an (US) army-wide investigation into the mental processes soldiers go through after returning from deployment.

From a comment Mr. Taylor had left, decrying the situation he now was in, and his rapidly declining ability to deal with it due to diagnosed PTSD from his Iraq deployment, several readers became alarmed at the stated desire by Chris to end his life.

Patrick Pitt and I began trading emails shortly after seeing the comment. Both of us are soldiers who have been through deployments and seen some similar situations to Chris.’ We determined we should attempt to locate the soldier in case the threat was serious. Shortly after that I received an email from Matt asking if it were possible to locate him. Matt had his friend track down the I.P. from which the comment was posted and I ran the name Christopher Taylor through the army database to see if I could come up with any hits. Matt’s friend provided a possible location based on the ip and went ahead with the conjecture that the other initial in his email address was his middle initial.

Using that search string criteria we came up with one hit that looked pretty good, and based off that information called down to the fort the unit he was listed as being in is located at. After getting the typical run around from an after hours staff duty officer I left the contact name and the information as I had it with him, on the assurances that I would be called back when contact was made.

Later that evening I received a phone call from the military police unit that was on call informing me that they had found Mr. Taylor and were bringing him in for 48 hours of observation/suicide watch. They also informed me that they had found a handwritten note on the premises also indicating a desire to “end it all.”

After relaying this information to Mr. Good and to other concerned parties I had been emailing, I wanted to make sure that I gave the soldier my contact info in case he ever wanted to talk. Matt said he had obtained his email address from the registration files of the mblog, and was going to send him an email. I emailed Matt back and told him to include my contact info as well.

Fast forward to the next day.

I received an email from Matt (who had received a reply from Chris) describing conflicting reports about what had happened. Chris told Matt he was OK, surprised by Matt’s response, but he hadn’t carried through with it. Matt asked if the military had contacted him and Chris said they hadn’t. This baffled me as I had received word from the military police that they someone in custody for observation for 48 hours.

Matt gave me the number Chris had left to get ahold of him, and I decided to call and see if I could get to the bottom of what was going on. I got ahold of Chris’ father who put me in touch with Chris.

Chris explained his situation to me and confirmed that the army had not, in fact, taken him anywhere, much less shown up at all. I now began wondering who the military police had hauled in and why. After leaving my contact information with Chris, and being assured that communication between us would continue, I called down to the staff duty office I had called the previous night. They again confirmed they had a “Mr. Taylor” in custody.

The officer on duty called in the Lieutenant from the previous night and we proceeded to sort through the information I had left with him, and find out who (and why) was in custody now.

It seems that when running the search we came across the correct Christopher Taylor. Christopher Len Taylor to be exact. When I relayed this information to the staff duty office of the unit he was listed with, the officer on duty either didn’t hear correctly or wasn’t paying attention. He wrote down the name Glen Taylor, and sent the dispatch information over to the military police.

The MPs, upon receiving the information from the staff duty officer, instantly took it seriously. It seems that they had been called out after a Glen Taylor had admitted a desire to commit suicide before to his wife. Without thinking twice they went to his house, located Mr. (Glen) Taylor and searched around a bit. During their search they found a note written by Mr. Glen Taylor, a suicide note, and decided to pull him in for observation. The officer on duty then called me back to confirm that they had “Mr. Taylor” in custody. Since he used the words “Mr. Taylor” and told me they had found a note, I had no reason to suspect that 2 soldiers from the same division would be contemplating suicide at the same time.

After comparing notes the MP’s, staff duty officers, and I got caught up to speed. We decided to turn over the information to the division office in an effort to see if there are/were any more soldiers with similar problems, and what help is available for them.

It seems these two soldiers are not the only ones suffering from suicidal tendencies due to the trauma of PTSD. Many soldiers have come forward since their deployment, and the army has been using the same protocols since Vietnam (and we saw how well those worked) to deal with the situation. I talked briefly with a Colonel and 2 star General about the issue, and asked them what it would take to get a task force on this situation immediately. Lives are at stake, and 60’s and 70’s era psychology are not what we should entrust these lives to.

Both agreed and have set up an immediate study of soldiers returning from Iraq. They hope the study will yield better methods of dealing with deployments and the stress caused by them.

Chris is still dealing with the trauma of his deployment, he is attempting to get help through the Veteran’s Administration, however he doesn’t feel they are really helping other than to medicate him. I have had my own experiences with he veteran’s administration, and am inclined to think Chris is probably right there. My thoughts and well wishes are with him, and will endeavor to stay in touch with him as long as he will allow it.

Glenn is being released from confined observation and put into home observation for the next 24 hours. Due to privacy laws I have no definite contact means for him, though I did leave my number and email address with the military police to give to him upon release.

Chris, your cry for help not only has helped to launch an army wide effort to help gauge the problem you’re having, and how to deal with them; but may have saved Mr. Glen Taylor’s life in the process. I encourage you to look through the comments here on the mblog and see how many people, sight unseen, care about you and want you to be around. I once again, hope you will continue to call me from time to time, as I will call you to see how you are doing.